| R 283 |
| 2024 -- H 7074 Enacted 05/14/2024 |
| H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N |
| STRONGLY SUPPORTING THE PASSAGE OF THE 118TH CONGRESS H.R.6121 -- THE FILIPINO VETERANS FAIRNESS ACT OF 2023 |
Introduced By: Representatives Fenton-Fung, Kennedy, Azzinaro, J. Lombardi, Hull, and Chippendale |
| Date Introduced: January 05, 2024 |
| WHEREAS, Congressional House Resolution 6121 will amend title 38, United States |
| Code, to improve the benefits furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to certain |
| individuals who served in the forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts; and |
| WHEREAS, The United States military recruited tens of thousands of Filipino |
| servicemen to fight with it in World War II. It is estimated that over 250,000 Filipino troops |
| bravely fought under United States command, and saved countless lives during their service; and |
| WHEREAS, These soldiers, who were promised full access to veterans’ benefits and |
| citizenship, never saw benefits. After the war ended, the government’s pledge was rescinded by |
| Congress’s passage of the Rescission Act in 1946, and has only partially been fulfilled in recent |
| decades; and |
| WHEREAS, In 1990, President George H.W. Bush enacted a law granting citizenship to |
| Filipino nationals who fought in the war. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed a law granting |
| a lump sum of $15,000 to surviving Filipino veterans who are American citizens and $9,000 to |
| noncitizens, however, claiming these benefits has been nearly impossible and many have been |
| denied access to them due to the lack of proper documentation; and |
| WHEREAS, H.R.6121 will restore those benefits to Filipino veterans by allowing the use |
| of alternative military documentation to determine eligibility which is necessary due in part to the |
| destruction of official service records in a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center; |
| and |
| WHEREAS, H.R.6121 will also allow a need-based death pension to be offered to |
| survivors of Filipino WWII veterans, in order to recognize their honorable and outstanding |
| service to the United States; and |
| WHEREAS, Passage of H.R.6121 will fulfill a long overdue promise for full access to |
| veterans’ benefits to the remaining veterans and the families of the hundreds of thousands of |
| Filipino servicemen who fought alongside American troops under U.S. command in World War |
| II; now, therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island strongly |
| supports and urges Congressional passage of H.R. 6121 in support of Filipinos who bravely and |
| honorably fought for the United States in WWII; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
| transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President of the |
| United States, and the Rhode Island Congressional delegation. |
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